Yesterday afternoon I attended an open house for candidates at Co-housing on Richdale Ave. I was talking to a resident about all the positive things happening in the schools. She also mentioned the "CPS Today" newsletter mailed to all Cambridge residents that is full of news about current, positive trends.
It's also happening locally. During this campaign season, some candidates have been inflating the amount of money spent per pupil. They neglect to mention the breadth of services CPS provides for families and children that other districts either charge for or don't provide at all -- like full-day kindergarten, low class size, transportation, and sports, to name just a few.
They have downplayed improvements in achievement. On the SAT tests, for example, our top students outscore comparable groups others across the nation. Our passing rate on MCAS is increasing faster than the state's and we have one of the lowest drop-out rates.
The truth is, there is both good -- and room for improvement. Emphasizing one and not the other won't motivate anyone to work harder nor will it help attract parents to our schools, where satisfaction is growing.
We have to break the school-bashing trend so we can build on recent successes and serve students even better.
"You hear such different things," she said. "I don't know whether things are good or bad."
She's right.
Unfortunately, the electorate *is* getting mixed messages about public schools.
Nationally, Massachusetts students are No. 1 when it comes to scores on the NAEP national math and reading tests. Contrast that with the fact that our state is labelling more and more schools as failures -- sometimes due to the scores of one or two students.
It's also happening locally. During this campaign season, some candidates have been inflating the amount of money spent per pupil. They neglect to mention the breadth of services CPS provides for families and children that other districts either charge for or don't provide at all -- like full-day kindergarten, low class size, transportation, and sports, to name just a few.
They have downplayed improvements in achievement. On the SAT tests, for example, our top students outscore comparable groups others across the nation. Our passing rate on MCAS is increasing faster than the state's and we have one of the lowest drop-out rates.
The truth is, there is both good -- and room for improvement. Emphasizing one and not the other won't motivate anyone to work harder nor will it help attract parents to our schools, where satisfaction is growing.
We have to break the school-bashing trend so we can build on recent successes and serve students even better.
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